


Love Will Wash Ashore

by EleanoraMcKogane



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Eventual Keith/Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Homesick Lance (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Fluff, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, MerMay, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Pining Keith/Lance (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn Keith/Lance (Voltron), Soft Keith/Lance (Voltron), merkeith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-03-09 09:29:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18914212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EleanoraMcKogane/pseuds/EleanoraMcKogane
Summary: For Mermay and my first time writing anything mermaid related.





	1. Chapter 1

Lance lingers behind on the beach, wanting to absorb the last rays of summer before he had to go back to his boring daily life in the city. He's the last one on their small little beach, the chilly breeze chasing away the rest of the people as the shadows grow long and darker.

The sunset is calm and quiet, the seagulls calling out to the last bit of warmth as they fly away to the sea. Lance tilts his head back and fills his lungs with the salty air of the sea.

It tastes of longing and of memories.

He exhales and looks at the ocean, the waves gently pushing and pulling, their chorus of watery enchantment always beckoning him. So he heeds their calling and goes for one last dive.

The water is freezing but it doesn't damper his resolution to say goodbye to the sea one last time.

He shivers, a loud grunt chattering his teeth and before he can dwell further on how icy cold the water was, he dashes off running through the surf until he flings himself head first into the water.

His entire body and mind go numb for a few seconds, everything around him stuck in time as Lance breaks through the surface and breathes in a lungful of summer air.

There are pinpricks of cold poking at his skin but he doesn't care.

Lance turns to the horizon and floats on the spot, saying his last goodbye to it. To the Summer and to the sea.

But his attention is caught by something moving not too far from him. He thought he was the only one still there at that hour, everyone having left for dinner. He hadn't seen anyone get into the water with him.

He swims forward, the setting sun painting the ocean with its orange colours and reflecting the last rays like a pristine mirror, almost blinding if he looked at it for too long.

There's movement again, a splash of water joining the lilt of the sea, a gleam of something red.

Then Lance comes to a sudden stop, heart pounding wildly inside his chest.

A few feet from him a pair of indigo eyes poke from water. They blink in his direction, interested and curious and only a tad bit cautious. A crown of dark hair frames a pale face.

Lance stops breathing for a moment, hypnotised by that starry gaze that slowly soothes down to mere novelty.

"H-hi," Lance greets and the eyes widen in surprise and jerk a little backwards, revealing the stunned face completely. Lance lifts his arms, the water sloshing around him and tries to appease the boy before him. "Hey, it's okay, it's okay. I mean you no harm."

And the boy looks at him first suspecting and then returning to that curiosity that twinkled in his eyes. He cocks his head to the side a little, the last ray of sunshine a halo behind him and Lance gives tentative smile.

The stranger tries to imitate him, his face first twisting into a grimace but then, slowly and shyly turning into a lopsided grin that has Lance's chest all aflutter. He feels his cheeks burn and the rise and fall of his Adam's apple when he swallows in dry.

"Lance!"

A voice calls from the shore and Lance is startled by the frantic frightened look on the boy who rapidly sinks until nothing but his eyes are peeking from the water again.

Lance looks over his shoulder to the voice, his sister Veronica waving her arms in the air from the shore. "Hey knucklehead, time to get home. Dinner's ready."

"Coming!" Lance yells back, a small bubble of annoyance surging within at his sister's interruption.

He returns to the boy only to be splashed by salty drops on his eyes as he plunged back into the water, a pair of red fins the last thing he sees as his eyes sting.

He blinks until his vision clear and looks around, hoping to catch a glimpse of those indigo eyes again. But as the sun descends further in the horizon and the world is steadily shrouded in twilight, Lance feels deflated.

"Lance!" Veronica calls again, exasperation bordering on the irritation.

Lance sighs resignedly and swims back to the shore where his sister waits from him, towel in hand. He accepts it without a word as Veronica rails him up, briskly picking up her flip-flops and shaking the sand off of them.

But Lance isn't paying attention. He places the towel around his shoulders and stares back into the sea, hoping against all hope to see him one last time before he leaves.

Only the tide waves him goodbye and Lance's heart is suddenly missing something he didn't even know he needed until those indigo eyes stared back at him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was part of Klance Positivity Week for day 1 (au/trope of choice).

Lance looks out the window of the bus to the blurred world outside and considers his decision again.

Why was he doing this again? Why was he so determined in finding something he wasn’t even sure had been real in the first place?

He knew why; those indigo eyes haunted him day and night, that shy smile that was gone too soon taunted his memories and Lance needed to make sure he hadn’t simply dreamt the encounter.

His phone vibrates on his pocket and he quickly reads Veronica’s message, the same as before though more menacing. He deletes it, just as he did with all the previous ones and sighs tiredly, leaning against the window as the bus takes him back to the beach, to where he hopes he’ll find him again.

The day was cloudy, an upcoming storm announcing the end of the summer and the beginning of a harsh autumn.

The moment Lance climbs down the bus the wind hit him with lashes of salty air and a petrichor smell filled his lungs. The thick clouds rolled in from the horizon, threatening and intimidating and darkening the ocean.

The blue waves he had spent the summer chasing and surfing were now a darker grey, foam licking the shore as the current pulled the water back.

Lance walked along the shoreline, eyes searching and heart hoping until he reached the pier. The weather was chilly enough to frighten people away, the crash of the waves on the poles below the plank bullying drops of icy cold water in the air but Lance didn’t care.

He walked to the end of the pier, the humidity and the lingering sprinkles not deflating his purpose.

He kept his eyes on the sea, still searching, still hoping.

Even though the water was in a tumult, he yearned to catch one quick glimpse of a red tail, of indigo eyes and pale face. Just a proof that he was real, that Lance wasn’t going crazy or seeing thing derived from hallucinations.

He lost track of how many hours he stood there, watching the commotion of the ocean. It was hypnotic the way it danced, the way it seemed to be beckoning him to its arms so he could waltz with the waves.

Each break of the tide against the sand on the seashore was a new note summoning him - _come to us, come hear where the orchestra is richer, come to the depths with us._

And Lance couldn’t deny the pull. He stretches his arm forward, wanting to reach the water and then feels his body falling.

The cold water wakes him from his trance. He emerges trying to catch his breath but the waves are relentless – _you came, you’re ours_ – and pull him under their weight, Lance’s body rolling beneath the dark veil and the more he struggles, the less he can seem to find the surface.

The water has numbed his limbs, its icy needles poking his skin mercilessly and Lance knows he can’t battle against the vastness of the sea alone. His lungs are beginning to compress with the lack of air and when he opens his mouth, bubbles of choke him as water fills in.

 _Welcome to your final dance,_ the ocean sings to him and all he can do is embrace it and give into it.


	3. Chapter 3

The song of the ocean is too neat, not the muffled chorus he had heard when his breath was strangling him alive.

There’s a continuous pressure on his chest, one two three, and air being rushed back into his lungs, fresh and salty and slowly waking Lance up from his stupor.

He then feels the water want to heave out, squirting from his mouth as he coughs, his throat raw and raspy, sore from swallowing the ocean water and a strange sense of relief washes over Lance.

He wheezes, trying to refill his lungs with air instead of water and then blinks the droplets away from his eyelids, looking around in a daze.   

A pair of indigo eyes stare worryingly back at him.

 _"You!”_ Lance manages to croak out through his sore throat and the merman blinks perplexingly at him, head tilted just a fraction to the side.

Lance sits down with a grunt, his entire body aching from the lashes and pull of the waves. “You… you saved me. Thank you.”

The merman just keeps staring at him with that same confused expression, long and dark eyelids occasionally flapping as the creases between his eyebrows furrow deeper.

Lance uses his confusion to take a look at the strange and beautiful creature before him. His amazement swells within his aching chest at the first sight of his saviour’s tail; red scales reflecting the poor and filtered light from the cloudy sky, each one a prism of crimson that gleams as the merman moves further into the water.

Only then does Lance realise that he’s lying down on a secluded niche near the beach, the rocky walls of the grotto providing enough privacy from prying eyes.

 _“La-Lance?”_ and Lance’s head snaps to the beautiful creature, puckered lips still trying to pronounce his name right. Lance’s breath hitches a little at the effort, his heart tumbling inside his ribcage. _“Lance?”_

“Yes, that’s me,” Lance replies immediately kneeling down next to the water and smiling down at the boy who returns it timidly, a soft and adorable blush doting his pale skin. “What’s you name?”

But the merman stares back at him, a different kind of confusion moping the smile that had made Lance’s blood sing. The boy shakes his head a little and Lance’s shoulders drop at the realisation.

“Oh, you don’t understand me, do you?” he asks even though he already knows the answer.

But the way the merman stares back at him, morose yet with a sliver of something Lance could only call hope, makes him push away the hardness of communication and smile. “It’s okay; we’ll figure something out.”


	4. Chapter 4

_“Keef,”_ Keith tries out the name, letting it roll over his tongue and Lance can’t help but chuckle lightly at the way he wrongly pronounces it.

“Do you like it?” Lance asks stretching his legs and looking at the merman who quietly murmurs the name Lance had chosen to call him, feeling a small bubble of pride when Keith nods with his head, a smile illuminating his indigo eyes.

For the past weeks Lance had managed to sneak out from work to the beach every single day just so he could be with Keith.

Through a slow process of learning, he had taught Keith the basics so they could communicate, revelling in the way the merman tried so hard and still failed to pronounce the simplest of words, making them so much charming.

Right now they stood on their secret niche, calmly watching the sunset as Keith’s tail swayed over the water, a kaleidoscope of red flashing with the descending beams of light.

The days were growing colder now, the lingering heat of the summer fading with the upcoming storms and, for some reason, Lance felt it weigh down on me. It felt as if an unspoken omen loomed over him, unhurriedly waiting for the right time to burst the bubble of delight he had with Keith.

What he didn’t expect was Keith to be the one bursting it for him.

“Lance,” Keith calls almost mournfully and it makes Lance’s chest squeeze at the tone, his head turning to him and seeing the merman’s downcast eyes lose their radiance. “I leave.”

“Leave?” Lance turns his whole body towards Keith, trying to keep the despair that was growing inside him from spilling. But it clung to him like a shroud and he couldn’t shake the coldness that had seeped to his bones. “What do you mean _leave?”_

“Must find hot water,” Keith replies, without looking up and Lance’s spirit deflates, disappearing like the last ray of sunshine on the horizon. “Weather cold.”

“Will-“ he exhales the fear that presses on his chest. “Will you return?”

Keith lifts his head to him, eyes searching and deep and locking Lance’s blue ones in their amethyst gaze.

For a moment Lance feels as if he’s drowning once again, the lullaby of the ocean before them beckoning him to dive into Keith’s stare forever.

Lance realises that he’d gladly drown for those eyes.

And such realisation scares and thrills him.

“Will you… hum…” Keith’s face crumples a little as he tries to find the right word. Lance’s heart skips a momentary beat at the sight, so delightfully adorable he sighs quietly while waiting. “Will you wait?”

“Wait for you?” Lance asks, a sliver of hope blazing the cold shroud of despair away.

And when Keith nods with his head, nervous and tense, Lance raises his hand carefully, letting Keith know what he intends to do and giving him time to react. Keith doesn’t move, just stares and waits until Lance cups his cheek, thumb caressing the cold and the soft line of bone there.

"I promise," he whispers truthfully.


	5. Chapter 5

The months came and went.

Seasons changed from autumn to winter, winter to spring.

In the past they held something special to Lance, a particular holiday or birthday he eagerly waited for and build up his enthusiasm towards to but not this time.

Now they were nothing compared with what he so fervently waited for, summer still a few days away.

Ever since spring had brought sunny and warmer days, Lance looked over the pier to the ocean, watching the fluid dance of the water and hearing its soft song once again.

It still beckoned him to come and dance with the waves, to dive into the oblivious respite of their embrace and forget the unruly world he lived in.

But Lance had a bigger reason to fight against the tide, to mute their siren calling and look to the distance, waiting.

Lance is early, earlier than he had ever been before. His family was still fast asleep when he had woken up with the first chirp outside his window, an early bird announcing the break of dawn.

Even before the sun brightened the horizon with brush strokes of orange and pink, Lance was already sitting down on the rocks protected from prying eyes and waiting.

The calm waters of the early morning deafened the pounding of his own heart in his ears. He could feel the way each keen and heavy beat pumped blood through his veins, a tickling sensation of anticipation that shivered down his spine like a lick from the waves.

A seagull calls in the distance and Lance follows its movements, watching the way it glides in the air over the water.

And then there’s a flash of red, so flitting and yet so real and familiar it makes him gasp alongside the skip of his heart.

Keith’s face emerges from the water a few feet from the rocks and Lance is diving, plummeting into the cold water and swimming to meet Keith halfway.

The current is strong and Lance fights against its pull, water filling his lungs again but then strong hands are once again securing him, Keith's tail circling around him and they break the surface.

"Lance!" Keith calls and Lance coughs just briefly, wiping the hair from his eyes.

"You're back," Lance breathes, the cold and the water clinging to his skin, uncomfortable and heavy a mere trifle now that Keith is back.

"You wait,” Keith says happily then, such a tender smile gracing his beautiful face that Lance is now touching, slick from the water but so beautiful and so breathtaking.

Lance touches Keith's forehead and smiles back. “I’ll always wait for you.”

**Author's Note:**

> First published on Instagram (username: @/eleanoramckogane)


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